Spence

This case presents the question whether the exclusionary rule should apply to a probation search conducted by police officers in reliance on a probation roster that was designed to omit information concerning judicially imposed limitations on the authority to conduct a probation search.

In reliance on a computer generated probation roster that told law enforcement that an individual was on probation and if he was subject to a search condition, but did not indicate any limitations on the right to search, police officers looking for drugs, conducted a probation search of the defendant's residence. The defendant was on searchable probation, but the right to search was limited to a search for stolen property.

A judge may grant probation conditioned on the defendant's consent to warrantless searches. On occasion, a judge may limit the scope of the defendant's consent to searches for particular contraband, such as drugs or stolen property. Here, the defendant consented solely to searches for stolen property as a condition of his probation. The probation department provided to a law enforcement agency a computer generated roster of probationers subject to search…